ICDL Module 7

Information and Communication using

Mozilla 1.4 and Ximian Evolution 1.4

David Varley
ICDL Module 7: Information and Communication using
Mozilla 1.4 and Ximian Evolution 1.4

David Varley

Published 2004
Copyright © 2004 ICDL Foundation

IMPORTANT NOTICE
All candidates who follow an ICDL/ECDL course must have an official CDL/ECDL Skills Log Book or Skills Card.
Without such a Log Book or Skills Card no tests can be taken and the candidate will not be able to obtain an International
Computer Driving Licence, nor any other form of certificate or recognition for the course.

Log Books/Skills Cards are obtainable from ICDL/ECDL Training and Testing Centres [http://www.icdl.org.za] or directly
from the ICDL Foundation of South Africa. (<info@icdl.org.za>, phone +27-21-671-1070).

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Table of Contents
1. The Internet .................................................................................................... 1
Concepts/Terms .......................................................................................... 1
Define and understand the terms: HTTP, URL, hyperlink, ISP, FTP ...... 2
Understand the make-up and structure of a Web address ....................... 2
Know what a Web Browser is and what it is used for ............................ 3
Know what a Search Engine is and what it is used for ........................... 4
Understand the terms cookie, cache ..................................................... 4
Security Considerations .............................................................................. 5
Know what a digital certificate is ......................................................... 5
Know what encryption is and why it is used ......................................... 6
Be aware of the danger of infecting the computer with a virus from a
downloaded file .................................................................................. 6
Be aware of the possibility of being subject to fraud when using a credit
card on the Internet ............................................................................. 6
Understand the term firewall ............................................................... 7
First Steps with the Web Browser ................................................................ 7
Open (and close) a Web browsing application ...................................... 7
Close the application ........................................................................... 7
Change the Web browser Home Page / Startpage .................................. 8
Display a Web page in a new window .................................................. 8
Stop a Web page from downloading ................................................... 10
Refresh a Web page .......................................................................... 10
Use available Help functions ............................................................. 10
Adjust Settings ......................................................................................... 13
Components of the Mozilla interface .................................................. 13
Display, hide built-in toolbars ............................................................ 13
Display, hide images on a Web page .................................................. 14
Display previously visited URLs using the browser address bar ........... 16
Delete browsing history .................................................................... 16
2. Web navigation ............................................................................................. 19
Accessing Web Pages ............................................................................... 19
Go to a URL ..................................................................................... 19
Activate a hyperlink/image link ......................................................... 19
Navigate backwards and forwards between previously visited Web pages
......................................................................................................... 21
Complete a Web-based form and enter information in order to carry out a
transaction ....................................................................................... 21
Using Bookmarks ..................................................................................... 23
Bookmark a Web page ...................................................................... 23
Display a bookmarked Web page ....................................................... 24
Organizing Bookmarks ............................................................................. 24
Create a bookmark folder .................................................................. 24
Delete a bookmark ............................................................................ 26
3. Web Searching ............................................................................................. 29
Using a Search Engine .............................................................................. 29
Select a specific search engine ........................................................... 29
Carry out a search for specific information using a keyword, phrase ..... 29
Combine selection criteria in a search ................................................ 31
Duplicate text, image, URL from a Web page to a document ............... 33
Save a Web page to a location on a drive as a txt file, html file ............ 35
Download text file, image file, sound file, video file, software, from a Web
page to a location on a drive .............................................................. 36
vi ICDL Module 7

Preparation ............................................................................................... 39
Preview a Web page ......................................................................... 39
Change Web page orientation: portrait, landscape and paper size ......... 39
Change Web page margins top, bottom, left, right ............................... 40
Printing .................................................................................................... 41
4. Electronic Mail ............................................................................................. 45
Concepts/Terms ........................................................................................ 45
Understand the advantages of e-mail systems such as: speed of delivery,
low cost, flexibility of using a Web-based e-mail account in different
locations .......................................................................................... 45
Understand the importance of network etiquette (netiquette) such as: using
accurate descriptions in e-mail message subject fields, brevityin e-mail
responses, spell checking outgoing e-mail .......................................... 46
Security Considerations ............................................................................ 47
Be aware of the danger of infecting the computer with a virus by opening
an unrecognized mail message, an attachment contained within an
unrecognized mail message ............................................................... 47
Know what a digital signature is ........................................................ 48
First Steps with E-mail .............................................................................. 48
Open (and close) an e-mail application ............................................... 48
Open a mail inbox for a specified user ............................................... 49
Open one, several mail messages ....................................................... 50
Switch between open messages ......................................................... 51
Close a mail message ........................................................................ 51
Use available Help functions ............................................................. 51
Adjust Settings ......................................................................................... 52
Remove a message heading ............................................................... 53
Add a new message heading .............................................................. 53
Display, hide built-in toolbars ............................................................ 53
5. Messaging .................................................................................................... 55
Read a Message ........................................................................................ 55
Flag a mail message. Remove a flag mark from a mail message ........... 55
Mark a message as unread, read ......................................................... 55
Open and save a file attachment to a location on a drive ...................... 56
Reply to a Message ................................................................................... 57
Use the reply, reply to all function ..................................................... 57
Reply with, without original message insertion ................................... 58
Send a Message ........................................................................................ 59
Create a new message ....................................................................... 59
Insert a mail address in the ‘To’ field ................................................. 59
Copy (Cc), blind copy (Bcc) a message to another address/addresses ... 59
Insert a title in the ‘Subject’ field ....................................................... 60
Use a spell-checking tool if available and make changes such as:
correcting spelling errors, deleting repeated words .............................. 60
Attach a file to a message .................................................................. 61
Send a message with high, low priority .............................................. 62
Send a message using a distribution list .............................................. 62
Forward a message ........................................................................... 63
Duplicate, Move, Delete ............................................................................ 64
Duplicate text within an email message .............................................. 65
Move text within an email message .................................................... 65
Duplicate text between active messages ............................................. 65
Move text from one message to another ............................................. 65
Duplicate text from another source into a message .............................. 65
Delete text in a message .................................................................... 66
Delete a file attachment from an outgoing message ............................. 66
6. Mail Management ......................................................................................... 67
 vii

Techniques ............................................................................................... 67
Using Address Books ................................................................................ 67
Create a new address list/distribution list ............................................ 67
Add a mail address to an address list .................................................. 68
Delete a mail address from an address list .......................................... 68
Update an address book from incoming mail ...................................... 69
Organising Messages ................................................................................ 69
Search for messages by sender, subject, mail content .......................... 69
Create a new folder for mail .............................................................. 71
Move messages to a new folder for mail ............................................. 73
Sort messages by name, by date ......................................................... 73
Delete a message .............................................................................. 73
Restore a message from the mail bin/deleted items folder .................... 73
Empty the mail bin/deleted items folder ............................................. 74
Prepare to Print ......................................................................................... 74
Preview a message ............................................................................ 74
Choose print output options such as: entire message, selected contents of a
message, number of copies and print .................................................. 75
viii This page intentionally left blank
Chapter 1. The Internet

Concepts/Terms

Understand and distinguish between the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW).

The Internet consists of all computers and networks across the world which are able to
communicate with each other using telephone, fibre optic, microwave, radio, satellite or
any other type of link. The Internet includes private, commercial, government and military
computer systems. The main links which join continents, countries and major cities are
collectively called the Internet Backbone.

Computers on the Internet use specific rules, called protocols, that define the procedures
for communication. The protocol that controls communication across the Internet is called
TCP/IP or Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol.

The World Wide Web or WWW is part of the Internet. This consists of servers that store
web pages which can be read by browsers such as Mozilla, Netscape, Opera or Internet
Explorer. Web pages in turn have a specific format known as HTML or Hypertext
2 The Internet

Markup Language. A browser is an application that is able to read (but not create) web
pages.

Define and understand the terms: HTTP, URL, hyperlink, ISP,

FTP
HTTP As was mentioned in the previous section, a protocol is a rule for
communication. Communication takes places at several levels. TCP/IP is
the protocol that controls the flow of communication. Any specific type of
communication that takes place needs additional rules that define how it
will take place.

When HTML pages are transmitted across the Internet, the procedures are
defined by another protocol called HTTP or HyperText Transfer
Protocol.
FTP One of the features of the Internet is the ability to download files from sites.
Downloading files requires another protocol called FTP or File Transfer
Protocol.
URL Each website has a unique address called its URL or Uniform Resource
Locator. The is also sometimes referred to as a web address. The structure
of URLs will be discussed in the next section. To access a website, you
would type its URL into the browser search window and press Enter or
click the Search button.

Hyperlink Hyperlinks are links attached to text and icons in web pages and
documents that enable you to jump directly to another site without having
to type its URL into the search window. By convention, text which has a
hyperlink associated with it is shown in a blue underlined font. To use a
hyperlink, simply click on the text or icon in the web page. The browser is
able to interpret the hyperlink and locate and display the site automatically.

ISP
To access the Internet, you need certain things:

• A computer
• A telephone line
• A modem
• Browser software on your computer
• An account with an ISP.

To access the Internet Backbone, you need to have a link to an organisation that does.
Special types of businesses have arisen whose purpose is to provide links for individuals
and small organisations to the Internet. These companies are called Internet Service
Providers or ISPs. In exchange for a fee, they will provide you with a link between your
computer and the Internet backbone. ISPs vary in price and quality. Quality in this sense
refers to how easy it will be for you to establish a connection and, once connected, how
fast that connection will be.

Understand the make-up and structure of a Web address

Know what a Web Browser is and 3
what it is used for

A web address consists of a number of components separated by periods (full stops).

Examples include: www.amazon.com, www.yahoo.co.uk, www.absa.co.za,
www.icdlafrica.org, mail.sybaweb.co.za

The first part is the name of the server and the final part is called the top level domain
zone. Some top level zones such as .com, .net and .org are international zones as they do
not relate to any country in particular. Sometimes the top level domain zone corresponds to
a country. Some examples are: .uk (United Kingdom), .za (South Africa), .ke (Kenya), .au
(Australia), .ca (Canada) and .fr (France). Most organisations in the United States use the
international top level zones .com, .org, .net. There are also some newer ones available
such as .biz and .info.

Most countries allocated the next level to specific organisations. For example, in South
Africa we have .co.za (Commercial organisations), .org.za (Not-for profit organisations),
.ac.za (Academic and research institutions) and .gov.za (Government departments).

The part of the name following the server name is known as the domain name. Thus in
www.amazon.com, the server www is attached to the domain .amazon.com. Just as many
people have the same name, so do many servers. In fact, most servers on the Internet are
called www. However, each combination of server and domain must be unique.

When you type a URL into a browser search window, the browser actually adds another
part http:// to indicate that it will use the http protocol. The full entry will look like the
following:

http://www.amazon.com

It is also possible to access a site where you can download files using FTP. In this case the
entry should like like this:

ftp://svr5.fileaway.co.za

We would interpret the above as:

i. Use FTP
ii. The server name is svr5
iii. It is found attached to the domain fileaway.co.za, a South Africa domain.

A URL consists of a number of web pages. A web page is an item which is stored under a
particular name on the web site. Often you will be required to enter a specific page to find
information. For example:

http://www.galactic-info.ac.za/starclusters.htm

If you do not enter the name of a web page, the browser assumes it is index.htm. If, for
example, you enter the URL www.galactic-info.ac.za, the browser will assume you mean
www.galactic-info.ac.za/index.htm.

Know what a Web Browser is and what it is used for

A browser has a very straight forward purpose, to locate files using their URL and display
their contents on-screen.

Examples of browsers include Mozilla, Internet Explorer, Opera and Netscape.

Although browsers have a very specific purposes, they can have many features which
4 The Internet

improve their functionality. These include:

• Navigate between sites. This is sometimes called surfing the web.

• Record your visits to sites.
• Bookmark important sites.
• Whether or not to display graphics. Graphics can cause the computer to appear to run
very slowly.
• Enforce various levels of security and privacy.
• Prevent the execution of cookies. Cookies are small programs that are downloaded
from web sites. Usually they do such things as animate the screen, butthey can be
sources of viruses or they could send information about you back to the server you are
accessing.
• Change the display in various ways.

Know what a Search Engine is and what it is used for

A search engine is a special type of web site whose purpose is to help users access
information stored on the Internet. Examples include Google and Altavista.

There are hundreds of thousands of web sites on the Internet. These are continually
changing. New ones are continuously created while others disappear. You may know the
names of a few useful sites, but this will be a tiny fraction of what is available. Through the
use of key words which you feed into the search engine, it will use special techniques to
find sites that make reference to these words. The results of the search are displayed
on-screen as hyperlinks. By clicking on the hyperlinks, you can jump directly to the sites.

Search engines usually allow you to place added restrictions on the sites that are displayed.
For example:

• Display only sites which contain all of certain key words.

• Display all sites which contain any of a list of key words.
• Display sites that contain a specified phrase.
• Display only English (or some other language) sites.
• Restrict the search to sites that have been updated within a specified period.
• Exclude sites which contain certain words.

Although a search engine is very powerful in locating sites that relate to the key words, it
does not provide any assessment of the accuracy and validity of the data. Although there is
vast amounts of valuable and useful information on the Internet, there is also much that is
out-of-date, inaccurate or deliberately misleading.

Understand the terms cookie, cache

Cookies Web sites frequently make use of graphics. They may also need to know
certain things about your computer or be able to make changes to the way
your computer is functioning. In order to achieve this, they download small
programs onto your computer when you access the site. These small
programs are called cookies.

Although cookies are often very useful, they do have a negative aspect.
Security Considerations 5

They could, for example, contain a virus. Alternatively, they could scan
your computer for information such as access codes and passwords, and
send these back to their source. When you allow cookies, you are also
exposing your computer to a number of serious risks. Unfortunately, some
sites cannot be accessed unless cookies are allowed.

Browsers give some control over cookies. You can set them so that they
block all cookies, or allow cookies only from certain trusted sites or allow
them all.
Cache Because web sites often contain a lot of graphics, they can take
considerable time to load. To speed up the process of accessing web sites,
your browser can make use of a cache. Cache is the name given to memory
used for speeding up operations. A web browser uses cache to store web
pages that you have accessed in the past. If you call up the same page,
instead of loading it across the Internet, it retrieves it from cache. In using
cache, you need to specify how long web pages should be stored. Actual
pages get updated from time to time, so your cache will become outdated.

There are programs called web accelerators that speed up the operation of
browsers. Accelerators make use of cache in a different way. They
anticipate the web sites you are likely to use based on the sites you have
been accessing. While you are working on a site, the accelerator will load
these sites into cache ready for immediate use.

Security Considerations

Know what a protected Web site is, (use of username and password)

Most web sites are unprotected. This means anyone can access them and read their
contents. Other sites are protected. As soon as you attempt to access them, a dialogue will
appear on-screen asking for a user id and password. Unless you can supply these, you will
not be able to progress forward.

Some sites are a mixture of protected and unprotected areas.

The registration processes required to access protected sites vary. Often it will involve
payment of a fee. It may come as part of some some other process. For example, if you join
an organisation, you may receive a user name and password which allows you access to
protected areas of a web site. A common technique is to require you to complete a
questionnaire in which you give personal details. Once this has been done, a user name and
password is emailed to you.

Take note of the comments in module 1 about the dangers of using unknown sites on the
Internet.

Know what a digital certificate is

A digital certificate is an electronic document that proves the authenticity of a site. They
are issued by a certification authority (CA). The certification authority links a public key
to the name in the certificate. (Public and private keys will be discussed in the next
section.) Digital certificates are used when secure connections need to be established
between a computer and a web site. If the digital certificate cannot be verified, the web
6 The Internet

browser will send a warning message to the user.

The way digital certificates work is explained in the next section on encryption.

A digital signature is an added level of security. Digital signatures have in-built

mechanisms that enable recipients to verify that the sender is who he/she says and that
information has not been forged. Digital signatures are described more fully in the section
called “Know what a digital signature is” [48].

Sites using these security methods have an address that begins htts rather than http.

Know what encryption is and why it is used

Encryption refers to the scrambling of data so that it cannot be read without a key. This
means that sensitive and confidential information can be sent across the Internet without
being able to be read. For example, if you are doing banking over the Internet, a secure link
called SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is set up between your computer and the server. This
involves scrambling the data so that, if it is intercepted, it appears as a meaningless set of
characters.

Encryption involves the use of private keys and public keys. The public key enables the
data to be encrypted by anyone. Once it is encrypted, it can only be deciphered with a
private key. Only the owner of the site has this.

When a site sends you a digital certificate, they are also sending you a public key which
enables you to encrypt information which only it can read.

Be aware of the danger of infecting the computer with a virus

from a downloaded file
The Internet is a wonderful source of information and software. Since there is virtually no
control exercised over the Internet, it is also a source of danger and even criminal activity.
There are thousands of download sites where you can obtain software, some of it legal
some pirated. Whether or not the software is legal, there is always the possibility of viruses
being contained in the software. This could be done deliberately by the developer of the
site or because it was not checked adequately before being made available.

Before downloading software from the Internet, be sure that you can trust the site you are
dealing with. There are excellent and safe download sites such as www.tucows.com so you
should not need to use dubious sites.

Be aware of the possibility of being subject to fraud when

using a credit card on the Internet
In order to make use of some sites or order goods or services across the Internet, you will
need to pay by credit card. When you give credit card information without the merchant
actually seeing the card, it is referred to as a Card Not Present or CNP transaction. There
are a number of dangers to both the buyer and the seller.

Vendors need to be sure that:

• The card is not being used fraudulently.

Purchasers need to be sure that:

• They can afford the goods they are buying. It is very easy to spend money using a
Understand the term firewall 7

credit card on the Internet.

• The vendor will not abuse the information and make unauthorised debits. They should
not deal with any unknown sites.
• The information will not be stolen by employees and used fraudulently. Once again,
well known reputable sites will have measures in place and will generally take
responsibility if anything does go wrong.
• The information will not be stolen and used by hackers. Only use sites that are able to
encrypt the information you send using a secure link such as SSL.

Understand the term firewall

A firewall is the first line of defence against hackers. It is a computer program that is
installed on a computer that connects to the Internet. The firewall software analyses the
packets (small groups of data that are transmitted as a unit) that pass between the computer
and the Internet. It is programmed to follow certain rules which enable it to decide whether
or not to allow a packet to pass. If a packet does not meet the rules programmed into the
firewall software, it is rejected.

First Steps with the Web Browser

Open (and close) a Web browsing application

• Click the Start Applications->Networking->WWW+Mozilla Start Applications icon.

The Mozilla application will load.

Close the application

• File->Quit
8 The Internet

Change the Web browser Home Page / Startpage

The Home Page is the web site that is located and displayed by Mozilla when it is loaded
by the user. This is set in the Mozilla Preferences as follows:

1. Edit->Preferences.
2. Expand the Navigator category by clicking on the + symbol.
3. Type the new home page into the Location window.
4. Click OK.

Display a Web page in a new window

To display a web page you need to know its URL (web address). The following example
illustrates how to access the Yahoo web site. Its URL is www.yahoo.com

Type www.yahoo.com into the Location bar as shown on the next screen and press
Enter.
 9

If you do not type a protocol in front of the URL, Mozilla assumes the protocol is http and
completes the URL as shown on the screen above.

Guessing URLs
Mozilla can often guess the URL you require. For example, if you wanted to view the web
site of CNN but were unsure of the URL, you could type in CNN on its own. Mozilla
would attempt to find the site for you and would try various possibilities starting with
www.cnn.com.

Open in a new window

Suppose you have the following situation. You have the web page of Google.com
displayed and you wish to display the web page of Yahoo.com without actually closing
Google. This is a similar situation to having more than one document open in a word
processor. The procedure is quite straight forward:

1. File->Open Web Location.

2. Type the URL, in this case www.yahoo.com, into the Location window.
3. Click on the Open in drop down window and select New Navigator Window.
10 The Internet

4. Press Enter.

A new window will open with www.yahoo.com displayed.

5. Click on the appropriate icon at the bottom of the screen to switch between the web
sites.

Stop a Web page from downloading

Web sites often take a while to download, especially if they contain a lot of graphics or if
the Internet is very busy at the time you are using it.

• Click the Stop button next to the Location bar.

Refresh a Web page

In order to speed up with with web sites, Mozilla stores copies of pages in a cache or
temporary memory area so that they can be recalled more quickly than if they had to be
reloaded across the Internet. You can get the most up-to-date version of the page by using
the refresh function.

• Click the Reload button next to the Location bar or press Ctrl+R.

Use available Help functions

Mozilla comes with an extensive help system. Learning to use the help system can help
you become familiar with the full range of the application's functionality. To access Help:

1. Help->Help Contents.
 11

2. Click the Maximise icon.

3. Click on Contents.

Suppose you wish to find out how to copy a web page.

1. Expand Browsing the web by clicking the + symbol.

2. Expand Copying, Saving and Printing.
3. Double click on Copying Part of a Page.

At this point it would be useful to acquaint yourself with the Contents of the Help system.

Use Search
The Contents are useful if you know exactly what heading you are looking for. It may
happen that you are looking for all entries containing a particular key word. The following
example illustrates how to find all entries that contain the word cache.

1. Help->Help Contents.
2. Click the Maximise icon.
3. Click on Search.
4. Enter the word cache into the Search window and click the Search button.
5. Click on the entry you wish to view.
12 The Internet

Use Index
The Index is a detailed listing of occurrences of key words in the help system.

1. Click on Index.
2. Expand the letter of the alphabet containing the key word.
3. Expand the contents of the key word and click the entry as shown in the following
screen.

Use the Glossary

The glossary is a dictionary of meanings of terms associated with Mozilla. These are listed
in alphabetical order.

• Click on Glossary and then click the term whose meaning you wish to know.
Adjust Settings 13

Adjust Settings

Components of the Mozilla interface

Before explaining how to show and hide the toolbars, it would be useful to become
acquainted with the different components. These are illustrated on the following screen.

Display, hide built-in toolbars

Method 1: Minimising or maximising a toolbar

1. Click the small triangle to the left of the toolbar (either the Navigation toolbar or the
Personal toolbar).
2. Click the triangle a second time to display the toolbar.

Method 2: Completely hiding or displaying toolbars.

14 The Internet

• View->Show / Hide.

The sub-menu will indicate toolbars that are displayed by a tick next to an entry. Clicking
on a toolbar that is displayed will cause it to be hidden. Clicking on a hidden toolbar has
the reverse action and causes it to be displayed.

The Site navigation toolbar is treated somewhat differently as there are three options as
shown on the following screen.

Set display to full screen mode

Full screen mode allows you to use the entire screen for the display of web pages. Only the
Navigation bar will be displayed at the top of the screen. The rest of the screen is used for
the display of the web page.

1. View->Full Screen or press F11.

2. Press F11 again to return to normal view mode.

Display, hide images on a Web page

The loading of graphic images can slow down the display of web sites very drastically,
especially if they are graphic intensive. Often these images are of little use when the user is
after information. One way of speeding up access is to suppress the display of images.

1. Edit->Preferences.
2. Expand the Privacy & Security category.
3. Select Images.
4. Check Do not load any images.
 15

5. Click OK.

Some images are animated. This also slows down access. You may wish to display images,
but not animate them. This can be achieved by checking Never in the Animated images
should loop area of the previous dialogue.

The next two screens illustrate the difference between displaying and suppressing graphic
images.
16 The Internet

Display previously visited URLs using the browser address

bar
When you access a web site, Mozilla records this in its History.

1. Click on the drop down arrow at the right hand side of the browser address bar.

A list of recently visited sites is displayed.

2. Click the site you wish to visit.

An alternative is to use the Menu bar. The Go menu item will display sites visited during
the current browser session.

1. Click on Go in the menu bar.

A list of recently visited sites is displayed at the bottom of the menu.

2. Click on the site you wish to visit or press Esc to clear the menu.

These entries are automatically cleared after you quit the browser.

Delete browsing history

View the History
 17

You can review your recent browsing activity.

1. Go->History or press Ctrl-H.

2. Expand Today by clicking the + symbol.

You may expand each web site to view the pages that you have visited in the site.

Delete entries

• Highlight the entry you wish to delete and press the Delete key.

This will delete the entry and all its sub-entries.

Clear the entire History

1. History->Go.
2. Edit->Select all or press Ctrl+A.
3. Press the Delete key.

Clear entries in the Location bar

1. Edit->Preferences.
2. Expand Navigator and select History as shown on the following screen.
18 The Internet

3. Click Clear Location Bar then Click OK.

Chapter 2. Web navigation

Accessing Web Pages

Go to a URL
This was covered in the previous section, in particular in the section called “Understand the
make-up and structure of a Web address” [2].

Activate a hyperlink/image link

A hyperlink is a cross-reference to another web site. The hyperlink is attached to an icon
or a phrase. When a user clicks on a hyperlink, the browser displays the cross-referenced
site. It is possible to do this in the current window or in a new window.

When hyperlinks are attached to phrases, the phrases are usually displayed in underlined
blue text.

Display the URL of a hyperlink

The following screen illustrates a number of hyperlinks.

The underlined headings all represent hyperlinks.

• Right click on a hyperlink and select Properties. A window such as the one below will
display details of the hyperlink.
20 Web navigation

Activate a hyperlink in the current window

• Click on the hyperlink.

The currently displayed page will be replaced by the cross-referenced web page.

Activate a hyperlink in a new window

1. Right click on the hyperlink.

This will display a context menu.

2. Click Open Link in New Window.

Switch between open web sites

1. Click on the Window menu item.

A list of open web sites will be displayed at the bottom of the menu. The current page
is marked with a dot.
2. Click on the web page you wish to revert to.

Navigate backwards and forwards between previously visited

Complete a Web-based form and 21
enter information in order to carry

Web pages
Suppose you load three websites in the following order: www.google.com, www.cnn.com
and www.bbc.co.uk. At this stage www.bbc.com would be displayed on your screen. If you
wish to view any of the two previous sites, you can may use of the navigation bar.

1. Click the Back icon. This will take you back to www.cnn.com.
2. Click Back again to go to the first site www.google.com or Forward to go to
www.bbc.com.

You will notice that the web sites are displayed immediately. This is because they have
been stored in cache memory by Mozilla. If the sites have changed since you last visited
them, you would still see the unchanged version. In most cases sites do not change that
rapidly that it would be an issue. If, however, you were viewing online stock market
information, it would be an issue.

• Click Reload or Ctrl-Shift-R to refresh the screen with the latest information on the
current web page.

Complete a Web-based form and enter information in order to

carry out a transaction
Many web pages involve a transaction such as purchasing goods, registering for a course or
creating a web based email account. Some of these involve a single form while others
involve several forms and could include giving credit card information.

Only supply credit card information over the Internet if you are sure of the web
site that you are using and if the site uses a secure method of transferring the
information.

The following example illustrates how to create a Lycos mail account. This will involve
completing a form using the browser window.

1. Enter the following URL into the browser window: http://login.mail.lycos.com/ and
press Enter.

2. Click the SIGN UP in the Free Email window.

3. Fill in your details on the form that appears.

In this case it is quite a long form so you will need to scroll down to complete all the
details.
22 Web navigation

4. Scroll down to the end of the form.

5. Enter the confirmation code.

The confirmation code prevents automated sign ups by computers.

6. Open the Terms and Conditions hyperlink in a new window to read the conditions
you will have to agree to.
7. Click the I Agree button if you agree to the terms and conditions.

Although the entire process is electronic, it nevertheless represents a contract

between yourself and Lycos mail. Clicking an I Agree button is typical of
transactions that involve conditions. Only click this button if you are happy to
out a transaction

agree to the conditions.

At this stage you might like to set up a web based email for yourself using this process.
Apart from Lycos mail, you can also get free web based email at www.yahoo.com and
www.hotmail.com.

Using Bookmarks

Bookmark a Web page

A bookmark is the URL of a site that is stored by Mozilla either in the Personal toolbar or
in the Bookmarks menu. To access a site is then a matter of clicking on the name of the
web site in the toolbar or menu.

Bookmarking a web page in the Bookmark menu

Suppose you wish to bookmark the Lycos mail web address.

1. Access the site by typing login.mail.lycos.com into the Location bar and press
Enter.
2. When the page is displayed: Bookmarks->Bookmark This Page or press Ctrl-D.
3. Access another page and click Bookmarks.

4. Click on Lycos Free Mail to return to the Lycos Free Mail web page.The actual URL
is attached via a hyperlink to the name or description in the Bookmark menu.

Bookmarking a web page in the Personal toolbar

As the Personal toolbar can contain fewer names than the Bookmark menu, use it to
bookmark sites that you visit the most frequently.

Suppose you wish to add Google Advanced Search to the Personal toolbar.

1. Display the web page by typing its URL into the Location bar and pressing enter.

The URL is: http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=enAlternatively, type

www.google.com into the Location bar and click the Advanced Search hyperlink on
the Home page.
2. Drag the Bookmark icon to the desired position on the Personal toolbar. The
bookmark icon is the symbol located to the left of the URL in the Location bar.

The following screen illustrates a Personal toolbar that contains links to a number of
Search engines. These will be described further on.
24 Web navigation

Display a bookmarked Web page

There are two methods of displaying a bookmarked page. In the previous section you
bookmarked Google on the Personal toolbar and Lycos mail in the Bookmark menu.

1. To display Lycos mail: Bookmarks->Lycos Free Mail.

2. To display Google: Click the Google icon on the Personal toolbar.

Organizing Bookmarks

Create a bookmark folder

As the number of bookmarks increases, so does the need for a system for organising them.
The best way of doing so is to create a number of folders. Each folder should be a
repository for web pages having something in common. The name of the folder should
reflect this.

Mozilla has a special dialogue for managing bookmarks.

1. Bookmarks->Manage Bookmarks. This displays the Manage Bookmarks dialogue. In

the window are a number of existing folders.
2. File->New->Folder OR click the New Folder icon.
3. Complete the details as shown on the following screen.

4. Click OK.

The new folder will be added to the set of existing folders.

 25

The following screen illustrates a number of bookmark folders that have been created.

Folders that have bookmarks added to them are illustrated with a + symbol.

• Click on the + symbol to expand the contents of the folder.

Add Web pages to a bookmark folder

1. Locate the web site you wish to bookmark.

2. Bookmarks->File Bookmark.
3. Select the folder in which you wish to place the bookmark.

4. Click OK.

The following screen illustrates a folder containing a number of bookmarks.

26 Web navigation

Access a web page bookmarked in a folder

Suppose we wish to access the Yahoo Advanced Web Search bookmark in the Search
Engines folder.

• Bookmarks->Search Engines->Yahoo Advanced Web Search.

Delete a bookmark
Delete a bookmark

1. Bookmarks->Manage Bookmarks.
2. Expand the folder containing the bookmark you wish to delete.
3. Click on the bookmark to select it and press the Delete key.

Delete a folder and its contents

1. Bookmarks->Manage Bookmarks.
 27

2. Make sure the folder is contracted: If it has been expanded, it will have a – sign in
front of it and the bookmarks will be displayed below. If this is the case click the –
sign.
3. Select the folder and press the Delete key.
28 This page intentionally left blank
Chapter 3. Web Searching

Using a Search Engine

Select a specific search engine

It will frequently happen that you want to look up information on the Internet but do not
know where to look. In such a case you can make use of a Search engine. A search engine
is a web site that will find the locations of web sites for you which contain key words or
phrases. There are a number of these available. In the screen showing bookmarks in the
section called “Add Web pages to a bookmark folder” [25], you will see the names and
URLs of a number of search engines.

This section will focus on a specific search engine Google. You should, however,
familiarise yourself with the other search engines and decide for yourself which you prefer.

1. Enter the following URL into the Mozilla Location bar: www.google.com.
2. Press Enter or click Search.

The secret of using a search engine such as Google lies in choosing the best key words or
phrases to locate useful web sites.

Carry out a search for specific information using a keyword,

phrase
Suppose you have a special interest in mountains and you would like to find web sites that
can give you information on mountains.

1. Type the word mountain into the Search window of Google and press Enter.
2. If you see the security dialogue below, click Continue.
30 Web Searching

As you can see from the next screen, Google has found something like 32 000 000 web
sites that contain the word mountain.

These sites contain information on everything from the geology of mountains to mountain
climbing. Suppose it is mountain climbing that you are interested in. In this case you would
use a key phrase. Key phrases must be enclosed in inverted commas.

1. Type the following phrase “mountain climbing” into the Google Search window
including the inverted commas.
2. Press Enter or click Goolge Search.
Combine selection criteria in a 31
search

The search has now been narrowed down to about 378 000 web sites. Clearly the search
needs to be narrowed still further.

Each of the web sites is shown as a hyperlink (the underlined blue text).

1. Click on a link to view the web site.

2. Click the Back icon to return to Google.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the Google web page and Click Next to view the next set of
links.

Generally, Google attempts to list the most relevant web sites at the top of the list.

Combine selection criteria in a search

Suppose your main interest in mountain climbing is in Africa. What you want to look for
then are sites which contain both the key phrase “mountain climbing” and the key word
Africa.

1. Type the following exactly as shown into the Google Search window: “mountain
climbing” Africa.

2. Press Enter or click Google Search.

32 Web Searching

At this point, the search has been narrowed down to about 22 600 web sites.

When searching try to use key words that are as specific as possible. For
example, if you are really interested in rock face climbing use this specific
phrase.

Google Advanced Search

Most search engines have an advanced interface that allows you to be very specific in your
search.

• If Google is open, click on the Advanced Search link, or type the following URL into
the location bar:

www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en and press Enter.

The following screen shows how the advanced search can be further restricted to English
language sites that have been updated within the past three months.

The Google Advanced Search engine is a very powerful tool. It would be well worth your
Duplicate text, image, URL from a 33
Web page to a document

while to experiment with it an become fully conversant with its use. The Google site also
contains tips and a help system.

Duplicate text, image, URL from a Web page to a document

Text and images can be copied from a web site into a document.

Copy an image into a document

Copying an image from a web site displayed in Mozilla is a two stage process involving
saving the image and then inserting it into a document.

1. Right click on the image you wish to copy into a document.

2. Click Save Image as ...

3. Select the directory in which you wish to save the image.

4. Give the image a suitable name.
5. Click Save.

1. Open OpenOffice.org Writer.

2. Select the document into which you wish to paste the image.
34 Web Searching

3. Insert->Graphics->From File.
4. Locate the image you have saved.
5. Click OK.

Copy the location of the image into a document

A web page is often made up of a number of files. In particular, images may be stored as
files which are separate to the text. The location of these images can be copied into a
document.

1. Right click on the image and select Copy Image Location.

2. Go to the point in your document where you wish to paste the location.
3. Edit->Paste.

Copy image directly from a web site to a document

If your Internet connection is active, you may also be able to copy an image directly as
follows:

1. Hold down the left mouse button and drag over the image. It should change colour
slightly.
2. Edit->Copy.
3. Go to the point in the document where you wish to paste the image.
4. Edit->Paste.

Copy text from a web site

Depending on how a web site has been constructed, you may or may not be able to copy
the text directly. If the following method does not work, you will first need to save the web
page as a text or html file (see next section) and then copy the text from there.

1. Go to the start of the text you wish to copy.

2. Hold down the left mouse button and drag over the text you wish to copy.
3. Edit->Copy.
Save a Web page to a location on 35
a drive as a txt file, html file

4. Go to the point in your document where you wish to paste the text.
5. Edit->Paste.

Save a Web page to a location on a drive as a txt file, html file

1. Locate the web page you wish to save in Mozilla.
2. File->Save As. This will display the Save as dialogue.
3. Select the directory in which you wish to save the web page.

4. Give the file a suitable name.

5. Select the type of file you wish to save it as. The options are described in the
following table.
6. Click OK.
36 Web Searching

Type Description

Web page, The entire web page including pictures is saved. As pictures are
complete usually themselves files, Mozilla will create a directory for these.
This directory will be a sub-directory of the one in which you saved
the web page. Mozilla will change the links so that they are directed
to the files in the sub-directory.

Using this option,you can view the web site in its original form.

Web page, The web page is saved without the pictures. In this case, the links to
HTML only their original location are preserved.

Text files This will save the file as a straight text version which can be viewed
in a text editor or word processor. No links are preserved.

If you save a web page as a text file, you should manually change the file
extension to txt to emphasise that you are saving it as a text file. Otherwise
Mozilla will retain the existing extension.

The following screen shows part of the above file when saved as a text file.

Download text file, image file, sound file, video file, software,
from a Web page to a location on a drive
Be aware of legal and ethical issues
Although the Internet is a wonderful source of information and software, it unfortunately
has a negative aspect as it is possible to acquire illegal software from some sites. There are
two things you need to keep in mind when using download sites.

1. Downloading illegal software or other electronic material across the Internet amounts
to software piracy. This is both illegal and unethical as it infringes on the intellectual
property rights of the developer.
2. Software from illegal sites may contain viruses.

Download software from the Internet

A very useful site for downloading software legally is Tucows. The following example
 37

will illustrate how to download the current implementation of Wine from Tucows. (Wine
is a program that allows you to run some Windows programs under Linux without having
Windows on your machine.)

1. Locate the Linux section of Tucows by typing the following URL into the Mozilla
location bar:

linux.tucows.com

2. Click the Wine link on the screen.

This will display some information about Wine.

3. Click Console under the heading Download on the right hand side of the screen.
4. Follow the next couple of screens which require you to select the best mirror site. This
is a local site that contains all the Tucows downloads.
5. When asked whether you wish to open or save the file, check the Save button.
6. Select a directory in which to save the download.
7. Either keep the name of the file that is displayed (preferable) or give it a new name.
38 Web Searching

8. Click Save.

If you do change the name of a file, be careful not to change the extension of
the file as this could have unforeseen consequences. This is especially the case
of files that will be used on Windows systems. On Windows systems the file
extension has a special meaning. For example, you can tell executable files in
Windows by the fact that they have an exe extension. In Linux, you can only
determine whether or not a file is an executable by viewing its properties. An
executable file in Linux may not even have an extension. However, even in
Linux some extensions such as rpm, tar and zip do have special
significance.

Download text files

There are a number of sites where you can download books free of charge. One of these is
Project Gutenberg. The URL is www.promo.net/pg/

In this case we will locate a specific book, 2000 Leagues under the sea by Jules Verne.

1. Enter the following URL into the location bar of Mozilla and press
Enter:www.gutenberg.net/browse/BIBREC/BR164.HTM
2. Scroll down towards the bottom of the screen.

3. Click on one of the download option links.

4. The next screen will ask you to select a site from which to download the file. Note
there are sites in many countries. For quickest download, select the nearest site.
Preparation 39

5. The process from here on is exactly the same as that described for downloading
software.

Download sound and video files

Most computers have sound cards which enable you to play music and speech. All are
stored as sound files of one type or another. There are a range of different formats. One of
the most popular is mp3 which compresses the file while still providing good sound
quality.

Similarly, movies can be stored as video files.

In order to play sound or video files, you will need to have the appropriate software
installed on your computer.

The process of downloading audio and video files is exactly the same as that described for
software and text files.

Preparation

Preview a Web page

Previewing a web page will enable you to see what it will look like when printed.

1. File->Print Preview.

2. Scroll through the pages.

3. Click Close to return to the normal Mozilla window.

Change Web page orientation: portrait, landscape and paper

size
Change page orientation
Portrait printing refers to print which is across the width of a sheet of paper. This is the
normal method of printing. If a web page is very wide, then it is best to print in landscape.
In Landscape printing is across the length of the page.

1. File->Page Setup.
2. Click the Format & Options tab.
40 Web Searching

3. Select the orientation, portrait or landscape.

4. Change the Scale, if you wish.
5. Set the Options, if you wish.
6. Click OK.

Change paper size

The paper size is set when you do the actual printing.

1. File->Print.
2. Click Properties.
3. Set the Paper size.

4. Click OK.

Change Web page margins top, bottom, left, right

1. File->Page Setup.
2. Click the Margins & Header/Footer tab.
Printing 41

3. Set the margins.

4. Click OK.

You can also set the headers and footers using this dialogue. Certain defaults
are supplied by Mozilla as shown on the following screen.

Printing

Choose Web page print output options such as: entire Web page, specific page(s), specific
frame, selected text, number of copies and print

• File->Print
42 Web Searching

In this dialogue you can set the following:

1. Print to the printer or a file: If you select the latter, you will be prompted for the file
name and location.
2. The printer to use: Select the printer by clicking on the drop down arrow next to the
printer name.
3. The range of pages to be printed: The default is All pages. To select a range of
pages, select the Pages radio button and enter the start and end page numbers.
4. Number of copies: Enter the number of copies you wish to print in the corresponding
window.
5. Print frames: Some web sites are made up of frames. These are boxes on the screen
which can be dealt with as units. If the web page contains frames, you can select how
you wish these to be printed.
6. Click OK.

The following screen illustrates a web site that makes use of frames. The borders of the
frames can be clearly seen on the screen.
 43

You may also choose to print a selection of text.

1. Select the text you wish to print.

2. Click on File->Print
3. In the Print Range option click on Selection
4. Click on Print
44 This page intentionally left blank
Chapter 4. Electronic Mail

Concepts/Terms

Understand the make-up and structure of an e-mail address.

An email address can readily be distinguished from a web address by the fact that an email
address always contains an @ symbol while a web address never does.

The structure of an email address is mailboxname@domain. For example, in the address:

josephine@ct-services.co.za, josephine is the name of the mailbox and ct-services.co.za

is the name of the domain to which it is attached. Usually the mailbox has a name which
relates to the user. In this case she has used her first name. Sometimes you will find email
addresses that have the form: josephine.taylor@ct-services.co.za. In this case the period
between the first name and surname has no special meaning. A hyphen could equally well
have been used. There can be many mailboxes attached to the same domain. In this case
only the part to the left of the @ symbol would change. Thus another mailbox attached to
the above domain might be info@ct-services.co.za.

Understand the advantages of e-mail systems such as: speed

of delivery, low cost, flexibility of using a Web-based e-mail
account in different locations
Advantages of email

1. Fast: Email is usually delivered within seconds to the recipient. The only delay
occurs in the time taken by the recipient to check his/her email.
2. Low cost: The only costs are the line costs. Usually many emails are sent at once,
reducing the cost even further.
3. Attachments: Documents, images, sound and video files can be sent with email
messages as attachments. This further saves cost of delivery of heavy and bulky
articles. The recipient can print the attachment or save it to the appropriate medium.
4. Reliability: Although email is occasionally lost through technical problems on the
Internet, it is much more reliable than ordinary mail. Electronic receipts can be
requested by the sender to confirm that the mail has arrived at the recipient.
5. Security: Using encrypted links, sensitive and confidential messages can be sent
across the Internet. Sending hard copies of messages has a much greater security risk.

Web based email

Normally an email client is an application which resides on a computer. Mail is
downloaded from the ISP to the mail client. This can present a problem if you are away
from your computer, especially if you are in a foreign country.

To overcome this problem, you can set up a web based email client. In this case, the email
resides on a remote server and is never actually downloaded to a computer. The software
46 Electronic Mail

for accessing the email resides on the mail server. The user accesses the mail site using a
web browser. He/she would be required to enter a user name and password. Once these
have been accepted, the user has access to the mailbox, which from there on functions in
very much the same way as an ordinary mail client.

Web based mail clients need to be managed carefully. Usually there are quite strict size
limitations. This means that they will fill quickly unless unneeded messages are deleted.

Web based email clients can be set up free on sites like Hotmail, Yahoo and Eudoramail.
There are also sites which charge a fee. These would offer larger mail boxes and more
features. These sites would be more suited to the business user who has to travel
frequently.

Some domain registrars (organisations who register domains on your behalf) provide
services such as web based mail linked to your own domain when you make use of their
services.

Understand the importance of network etiquette (netiquette)

such as: using accurate descriptions in e-mail message
subject fields, brevityin e-mail responses, spell checking
outgoing e-mail
Although email tends to be less formal than written communication, a poorly written and
structured email can cause offence. This is especially true in a business environment. Used
correctly, it is a valuable business tool. Below are some points to observe when writing
email.

1. Insert a meaningful subject heading. Users scan their mailboxes before opening
emails. A brief accurate subject heading can help them decide the relative importance
of mail. Many users delete mail that is suspicious. Email with empty or meaningless
subject headings would fall into this category.
2. Use an appropriate mode of address. There is a tendency to start email with the
greeting Hi Jo. This level of familiarity and informality may be appropriate if you
know the person you are sending the email to. When sending a business email, rather
err on the side of formality. Remember, many people may regard the casual mode of
address as disrespectful.
3. Check the spelling of your email. It is very annoying to receive email with many
misspellings. Most email clients allow you to spell check your email.
4. Likewise check the grammar of your email.
5. Do not use all upper case (capital) letters or all lower case letters when writing email.
This is simply not acceptable in anything other than a casual environment. Use the
correct case for text. Even friends could react negatively to such lazy construction.
6. Be clear but brief in constructing email messages. In is quite common for users to
receive a hundred or more emails at a time. Take into account that they might be
under pressure when they receive your email. Use correct paragraphing and headings
to enhance the clarity.
7. Include a signature at the end of your emails. This should include your full names, the
capacity under which you are writing, your email address, phone and fax numbers and
any other information which might be relevant to the communication.
Be aware of the danger of 47
infecting the computer with a virus

Security Considerations

Be aware of the possibility of receiving unsolicited e-mail

A distribution list is a set of email addresses which are given a single collective name. A
distribution list can have tens or hundreds of thousands of names on them. Once a
distribution list has been compiled, emails can be sent to every name on the list by sending
it to the name of the list. In other words, it is as easy to send the mail to a hundred thousand
recipients as to one.

This has led to a whole industry of creating and selling distribution lists. These lists are
then used to send unsolicited email to people on the lists. Unsolicited email, known as
spam is a major problem for both users and the Internet. The transmission of millions of
messages across the Internet wastes valuable bandwidth and causes deterioration in
Internet performance. For users, spam not only causes irritation but also fills up mail
boxes.

To deal with the problem, some countries are now introducing legislation to prohibit spam.
Some ISPs make use of special anti-spam software to block spam. Sometimes this software
makes use of known sources of spam while at other times it uses special techniques to
analyse the content. It is also possible to install anti-spam software on your computer.

Be aware of the danger of infecting the computer with a virus

by opening an unrecognized mail message, an attachment
contained within an unrecognized mail message
Email has been one of the major sources of the spread of computer viruses in recent times.
These viruses are usually hidden in attachments to emails. There are numerous effects of
these viruses. As Linux is relatively unaffacted by viruses, these effects apply mostly to
non-Linux systems. However, the situation could change.

1. Make your computer run more and more slowly to the point where it is inoperable.
2. Delete data or entire hard drives.
3. Change data.
4. Send information stored on your computer back to hackers.
5. Install programs on your computer which monitor your work and send details back to
hackers.
6. Use your computer to send infected emails to users in your email client address book.

On non-Linux systems, one of the standard actions you would take is to install anti-virus
software that is able to scan email. However, as the threat to Linux systems is very low,
there is little anti-virus software available.

Although the viruses may present little direct threat to a Linux system, it is possible for
viruses to lie dormant in files stored on a Linux system and be transmitted to non-Linux
systems when mail is sent or forwarded.

You should take the precautions listed below. If you are unsure of an email, do not open it
or even preview it. Rather delete it.
48 Electronic Mail

1. Check the email address to see if it is a known source.

2. If you do not know the sender, check the domain. Be particularly wary of unknown
senders using web based mail.
3. Check the subject heading of the email.
4. Check if there are attachments. Be very careful of email from unknown sources which
have attachments.
5. As we are all becoming increasingly dependent on email, we are often force to take
certain chances. In order to deal with possible loss, make regular backups on
removable media such as CD.

Know what a digital signature is

Digital signatures provide a way of verifying that an email is genuine and from the sender.

The process of using digital signatures makes use of a public key and a private key. If you
wish to communicate with others using digital signatures, you will make your public key
available to everyone but will keep your private key secret.

In order to use digital signatures, you would need special software.

First the sender's software compresses the message into a much smaller block of text, the
message digest, by a process called hashing. Hashing is a one way process as you cannot
derive the original message from the text that has been hashed, even if you know the
hashing algorithm.

Once this has been done, the message digest is encrypted using the private key. The
encrypted message digest is the digital signature which is then attached to the email.

The receiver's software then decodes your digital signature using the public key to create
the original message digest. At the same time it also generates a message digest from the
email using the same hashing technique. By comparing the two message digests, the
receiver can determine the genuineness of the email.

First Steps with E-mail

Open (and close) an e-mail application

Open Evolution

1. Click on the Start Applications button.

2. Click Networking then Mail.
3. Click on Evolution.

The Evolution interface appears as follows:

by opening an unrecognized mail
message, an attachment

Close Evolution

• File->Exit or click the Close application icon.

Convention
To simplify the use of functions found on the menu bar, these will be
abbreviated as follows: Instead of saying click on File on the Menu bar, then
click Folder then click Move, the notation File->Folder->Move will be used.

Open a mail inbox for a specified user

In oder to access mail from just one specified mail box, it you will need to enable this mail
box and disable the others.

1. Open Evolution.
2. Tools->Settings.
3. Click the Mail Accounts icon.
50 Electronic Mail

4. Check the mail account you wish to use. Make sure all the others are unchecked.
5. Click Close.
6. Click the Inbox icon in shortcuts.
7. Click on the Send/Receive icon to download messages.
8. Highlight the message you wish to read. A preview will appear in a pane below the
message list.

9. Press Ctrl-O to open the message in a window of its own.

10. Adjust the size of the message window by dragging a corner or press the Maximise
button if you wish the message display to occupy the entire screen.
11. To close the message window, do one of the following:

Click the close window icon, or File->Close, or press Ctrl+W.

Switch off the Preview Pane

There are a number of reasons why you might not wish to have the Preview pane
displayed. From a security point of view, it is better that it is not displayed. When it is
displayed, Evolution has to read the message. This is sufficient to activate certain virus
activity. To switch it off:

• View->Preview Pane.

If the Preview Pane were hidden, this function would have the reverse action and switch it
on.

Open one, several mail messages

Open a single message

1. Select the message you wish to read by clicking on it.

2. Press Ctrl-O or use File->Open Message or double click on the message.
3. Press Ctrl+W or use File->Close when done.

Open several messages

contained within an unrecognized
mail message

1. Select multiple messages by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking on each of the
messages.
2. Press Ctrl-O or use File Open Message.

This will display each of the messages in a separate window.

Switch between open messages

When a number of messages are open, an icon for each will be displayed at the bottom of
the screen. These icons will also include windows of other applications that may be open.

• Click the icon corresponding to the message you wish to read. This will make the
message the active window.

Close a mail message

• To close the message window, do one of the following:

Click the close window icon, or File->Close, or press Ctrl-W.

Use available Help functions

The help system for Evolution consists of an electronic book divided into a number of
sections. Each section may contain one or more chapters.

1. Help->Contents or press F1.

The left hand pane consists of a list of the sections while the right hand pane is more
detailed and has the chapters set out as a series of hyperlinks.
2. If you wish, you can drag the border between the two panes to the left so that only the
contents are displayed.
3. Click on Using evolution for email.
52 Electronic Mail

Searching
Suppose you wish to find information on deleting mail:

1. Edit->Find in Page or press Ctrl-F.

2. Enter the text you wish to find as, for example, in the screen.

3. Click Next.

This will find the text, if possible, and highlight it.

4. Click Next again to find the next occurrence.
5. Press Previous to find text you have already found.
6. Click Close when done.

Adjust Settings

Add, remove message inbox headings such as: sender, subject, date received

By default the inbox displays messages according to who they are from, the subject and the
date. Usually this is the information you need. You can remove these headings and add
others.
Add a new message heading 53

Remove a message heading

1. Right click on the column you wish to remove.
2. Click Remove This Column in the context menu.

Add a new message heading

1. Right click on the column you wish to remove.
2. Click Add a Column.
3. A list of possible column headings will be displayed. Drag the column you wish to
insert to the desired location.
4. Click the Close button on the column list when done.

Display, hide built-in toolbars

Changes to the toolbars are accomplished through the View menu.

Hide / Display the Shortcut bar

By default, the Shortcut bar is displayed.

1. View->Shortcut bar will hide it, if it is displayed, or display it, if it is hidden.

2. View->Shortcut bar will reverse the action of the previous command.
54 Electronic Mail

Hide / Display the Folder bar

By default, the Folder bar is not displayed.

1. View->Folder bar will hide it, if it is displayed, or display it, if it is hidden.

2. View->Folder bar will reverse the action of the previous command.

The following screen illustrates both the Shortcut bar and Folder bar displayed.
Chapter 5. Messaging

Read a Message

Flag a mail message. Remove a flag mark from a mail

message
A flag is used to mark a message as important. Flagged messages are displayed with an
exclamation mark next to them. To flag a message:

1. Right click on the message.

2. Click Mark as Important.

The message is displayed in red with an exclamation mark.

Remove the Important flag

1. Right click on the message.

2. Click Mark as Unimportant. (This option will only be available if the message is
flagged.)

Mark a message as unread, read

Mark a message as read
56 Messaging

Unread messages are shown in bold and read messages in ordinary text in the inbox. In
addition, an envelope icon is displayed to the left of the message. In the case of unread
mail, this is a closed envelope. You can mark a message as read without reading it.

1. Right click on the message to display the Context menu.

2. Click Mark as Read.

Mark a message as Unread

You can mark messages that have been read as not having been read.

1. Right click on the message to display the Context menu.

2. Click Mark as Unread.

Both the Mark as Important/ Unimportant and Mark as Read / Unread are
toggles. The option displayed in the context menu reverses the current status.

Open and save a file attachment to a location on a drive

An attachment is a file that you send along with the email message.

Attachments are a major method for the spread of computer viruses. Be very
careful of attachments that you receive from unknown sources.

When you receive an attachment you have the option of saving it immediately without
looking at it, or of opening it. If it is a text file, it would be opened in your word processor.
An attachment could also be a video or audio file that you would be played on a media
player.

Messages that have attachments are marked with a paper clip.

Save a message attachment

1. Open a message with an attachment.

2. Scroll down to the bottom of the message where the attachment icon is displayed.
3. Click on the icon.
4. Click Save attachment.

5. The standard Save as window will be displayed in which you will be required to
specify the directory location and name you wish to use.
Reply to a Message 57

Open message attachment

1. Select the Open option in the context menu.

2. Use File->Save as if you wish to save the document.

Reply to a Message

Use the reply, reply to all function

Messages are often sent to a number of people at the same time. When you reply to a
message, you may reply to the sender only or to all the recipients of the original message.

Reply to a message

1. Open a message that has multiple recipients.

2. Click the Reply icon or press Ctrl-R.

This will display a new window containing the text of the message. The original
message will be marked by the > symbol at the start of each time. You may type your
reply anywhere you wish, but it is best to type your reply at the top. Where you have
to make comments in the body of the original message, it is a good idea to type your
replies in a different colour font such as red.
3. Type your reply and click the Send icon.

Reply to All

1. Click the Reply to All icon or press Shift-Ctrl-R.

58 Messaging

In addition to the To window, the CC (Carbon Copy) window is also displayed. This
contains a list of the other recipients of the original email.
2. Type in the reply.
3. Click Send.

Reply with, without original message insertion

In the previous example, the original message was included in the reply. You may
customise this option as follows:

1. Tools->Settings.
2. Click

1. Click Composer Preferences.

2. Click the General tab.

3. Click the Reply style drop down window and select whether one of the options:
Send a Message 59

• Quote original message

• Do not quote original message
• Attach original message.

4. To keep changes: Click Apply, then OK.

To discard changes: Click Close.

Send a Message

Create a new message

1. Click New->Mail Message or press Ctrl-N or File->New->Mail Message.
2. Type your message into the message area.

Insert a mail address in the ‘To’ field

1. Type the full email address address of the person to whom you are sending the email
into the To window.
2. If you wish to send the email to more than one person, separate their email addresses
with a comma.

Copy (Cc), blind copy (Bcc) a message to another

address/addresses
Send a carbon copy of the email
You may send a copy of the email to one or more people.

1. If the Cc window is not displayed, View->Cc Field when the Compose message
window is displayed.
2. Type the email addresses of people to whom you wish to send copies in the Cc
window. Separate multiple email addresses with a comma. This is illustrated in the
screen below.

1. When you send a Cc, this will be indicated to all recipients of the mail.
2. Recipients of a Cc will not be expected to reply. If you expect a reply
from a recipient, include their email address in the To window, not the Cc
window.

Send a blind carbon copy

60 Messaging

1. If the Bcc field is not displayed, View->Bcc Field when the Compose message
window is displayed.
2. If you wish to send a copy to one or more recipients but do not wish other recipients
to know about this, use enter their names into the Bcc window.

Insert a title in the ‘Subject’ field

• Enter a subject into the Subject window.

Use a meaningful subject. Many users receive more email each day than they
are able to read. Use a subject heading that is meaningful and gives the reader
as clear and concise indication of the contents of the email as possible.

• Click Send when done.

A complete email ready for sending is illustrated on the following screen. Note the use of
commas separating multiple recipients in the cc field.

Use a spell-checking tool if available and make changes such

as: correcting spelling errors, deleting repeated words
Enable spell checking
By default, spell checking is not enabled. To enable it:

1. Tools->Settings.
2. Click Composer Preferences.
3. If the English (British) option is not checked, select it. You may uncheck the other
Attach a file to a message 61

options.

4. You may also select to check spelling as you type.

5. Click OK.

Spell check a document

1. Type your document. If you have selected to spell check as you type, Evolution will
mark words it interprets as misspelled.
2. When you have finished, Edit->Spell check document or press Shift-Ctrl-L.

3. You will be prompted with suggestions for incorrect words. Select a correction or
press Skip if you do not wish to change the word. Pressing Ignore will skip all
occurrences of the word.
4. Click Close when finished.

You may add new words to the dictionary by clicking the Add word button
when Evolution encounters a new word in a document.

Attach a file to a message

1. Type your document.
62 Messaging

2. Click the Attach icon or Insert->Attachment or press Ctrl-Alt-A. (The email message
must be open on the screen when you do this.)
3. Locate the directory in which the file is located and select the file.

4. Click OK.

An attachment icon will now be displayed at the bottom of the message.

• If you wish to remove the attachment, right click on it and select Remove.

Send a message with high, low priority

The priority of a message refers to the importance the messaging system gives to the
message.

Messages are stored in the Outbox before they are sent. You can mark the priority of
messages while they are waiting in the outbox.

1. Right click on the message.

2. Select Mark as Important in the context menu. This will display an exclamation
mark next to the message indicating high priority.

The priority option acts as a toggle.

3. To remove the high priority option, right click on the message and click Select as
Unimportant.

Send a message using a distribution list

A distribution list is a list of email addresses that are treated as an entity. Distribution lists
provide a convenient way of sending the same email to a number of users at the same time.
By creating a number of distribution lists you can work very efficiently with Evolution.
Forward a message 63

Create a distribution list

1. File->New->Contact list or press Shift-Ctrl-L.

2. Enter a List name.
3. Type an email address into the top window of the Members area.
4. Click Add.

5. Repeat this process to add new members.

6. Click Save and Close when complete.

Send an email to all recipients on a distribution (contact) list

• Type the name of the Distribution list into the To field instead of a normal email
address.

You may click on the To icon to display a list of contacts and distribution lists.
You can then select the recipients (contact lists and contacts). Evolution will
enter them automatically in the To field.

Forward a message
Forwarding a mail message involves sending a message you have received to one or more
other recipients. You may edit the mail message and add your own message before you
forward it.

The original message may be sent as an attachment or may be incorporated into the body of
the email.

Set the forwarding options

1. Tools->Settings and click Composer Options.

2. Click the Forward style drop-list and select the style you wish.
64 Messaging

3. Click OK when done.

Forward an email
Method 1: Use the default forward options

1. Open the mail message you wish to forward.

2. Click the Forward icon or Actions->Forward Message or press Ctrl-F.
3. Add text in the same way you would if you were replying to a sender.
4. Type in the list of email addresses or a distribution list into the To window.
5. Press Send when done.

Method 2: Specify the forward option

Replace the second step in the previous method with:

1. Actions->Forward.

2. Select the option you wish to use.

Duplicate, Move, Delete

Duplicate, move text within a message, or between other active messages

Duplicate text within an email 65
message

Text can be copied or moved between messages in exactly the same way as is done
between documents.

Duplicate text within an email message

1. Highlight the text to be duplicated.
2. Edit->Copy or press Ctrl-C.
3. Position the cursor where the text is to be inserted.
4. Edit->Paste or press Ctrl-V.

Move text within an email message

1. Highlight the text to be moved.
2. Edit->Cut or press Ctrl-X.
3. Position the cursor where the text is to be inserted.
4. Edit->Paste or press Ctrl-V.

Duplicate text between active messages

1. Switch to the source message.
2. Highlight the text to be duplicated.
3. Edit->Copy or press Ctrl-C.
4. Switch to the target message.
5. Position the cursor where the text is to be inserted.
6. Edit->Paste or press Ctrl-V.

Move text from one message to another

1. Switch to the source message.
2. Highlight the text to be moved.
3. Edit->Cut or press Ctrl-X.
4. Switch to the target message.
5. Position the cursor where the text is to be inserted.
6. Edit->Paste or press Ctrl-V.

Duplicate text from another source into a message

Suppose you have text in an OpenOffice.org Writer file that you wish to copy into an email
message.

1. Open the document from which you wish to copy the text.
66 Messaging

2. Highlight the text and copy using Edit->Copy or press Ctrl-C.

3. Switch to the message into which you wish to copy the text.

You can switch between any open document or message by clicking the icon
displayed at the bottom of your screen.

4. Edit->Paste or press Ctrl-V.

Delete text in a message

• Highlight the text to be deleted and press the Delete key.

Delete a file attachment from an outgoing message

Attachments to messages you create are shown in an attachment pane at the bottom of the
screen.

1. Right click on the attachment you wish to delete.

2. Click Remove in the context menu.

Chapter 6. Mail Management

Techniques

Recognise some techniques to manage e-mail effectively such as creating and naming
folders, moving messages to appropriate folders, deleting unrequired e-mail, using address
lists.

If you use email as a regular feature of your daily work, it is quite possible that you will
receive 50 or 100 emails in a day. Over a period of a few months, this adds up to thousands
of emails. Obviously the frequent user will need to develop strategies not only for dealing
with received mail, but also for sending mail.

Mail folders are to email what directories are to files. You can create mail folders in which
you store incoming and outgoing mail. Often users are careful about creating folders for
incoming mail but forget completely about organising outgoing mail. Copies of outgoing
mail are allowed to accumulate in the Sent folder. One way of dealing with this is to create
a folder for a particular category and then create two sub-folders within this for incoming
mail and copies of outgoing mail.

Sometimes you may receive so much mail for a particular category that it needs to be
divided into sub-categories which in turn have in-coming and out-going sub-folders. This
will be illustrated in the section called “Create a new folder for mail” [71].

When you create folders give them meaningful names.

You can modify your folder structure on an on-going basis and drag mail from one folder
to the next.

Delete unwanted mail. Only keep mail that you need to keep a record of. As a security
measure against viruses you may want to delete mail from suspicious sources without
opening it.

If you find you are receiving spam, consider making use of anti-spam software that will
block spam from known sources.

Make use of address / distribution lists to send email to groups of recipients. Instead of
having to type a list of email addresses, you only need to enter the name of the distribution
list.

Using Address Books

Create a new address list/distribution list

1. File->New->Contact list or press Shift-Ctrl-L.
2. Enter a List name.
3. Type an email address into the top window of the Members area.
68 Mail Management

4. Click Add.

5. Repeat this process to add new members.

6. Click Save and Close when complete.

Add a mail address to an address list

1. Make sure the Folder bar is displayed. If not, View->Folder bar.
2. If necessary, expand Local Folders.
3. Click Contacts. The address lists are displayed along with other contacts.
4. Double click on the name of the address list. A list of existing members will be
displayed.
5. Type in the name of the new member of the address list.

6. Click Add.

Delete a mail address from an address list

1. Display the address list from which you wish to delete a name as in the previous
Update an address book from 69
incoming mail

section.
2. Highlight the name you wish to delete.
3. Click Remove.

Update an address book from incoming mail

Instead of typing a new entry into the Contacts list, Evolution can do it for you directly
from email in your mail boxes.

1. Right click on the message.

2. Select Add Sender to Addressbook in the context menu.

3. A window will appear with the name and email address of the new contact. Click Add
to Contacts to add this to your existing address book. Otherwise click the close icon.

Organising Messages

Search for messages by sender, subject, mail content

You can enter filter criteria in the Search tool window that will enable you to display
messages from a particular sender, messages having a similar subject title or messages
containing certain words in the body of the message.

1. Open Evolution.
2. Click the drop down window at the left of the Search tool.

Search for messages by subject

1. Click Subject contains.

70 Mail Management

2. Enter text that the subject must contain and click Find now.

3. Click Clear to remove the filter and display all the messages.

The second option, Subject does not contain, has the opposite effect. It
displays all messages except those that satisfy the filter.

Search for messages by sender

1. Click the drop down window in the Search tool.

2. Click Sender contains.
3. Enter text that selects the sender. (It can be part of the sender's name) and click Find
now.

4. Click Clear when done.

Search messages for content

The previous two options limited the search to the sender or the subject. You may search
all parts of the message.

1. Click the drop down window in the Search tool.

2. Click Message contains.
3. Enter a word or phrase that the message contains. Click Find now.
Create a new folder for mail 71

4. Click Clear when done.

Search using the other options

The main components of a message are the sender, subject and message body. The body of
a message is the actual text of the message excluding subject and sender. When you search
using the Message contains option, the search function will scan the sender, subject and
body. You can include just certain components of the message in the search. The main
advantage is that by being more specific about where to search, the speed of the search will
improve. This is important if you have thousands of messages in your mailbox.

Create a new folder for mail

Suppose you wish to keep a record of all your email correspondence with an organisation
called Discovery. You also wish to sort this into an inbox and an outbox.

1. Make sure the Folder bar is displayed and click Contacts.

2. File->New->Folder; or press Shift-Ctrl-F.
3. Type in a name for the new folder. In this case it is Discovery.

4. Expand Local Folders and make sure that Local Folders is highlighted.

If you highlight a folder, the Discovery folder will be created as a sub-folder.

5. Click OK.

Create sub-folders

1. Make sure the Folder bar is displayed and click Contacts.

2. File->New->Folder; or press Shift-Ctrl-F.
3. Type in a name for the new folder. In this case it is Inbox.
72 Mail Management

4. Expand Local Folders and make sure that Discovery Folder is highlighted.

5. Click OK.

1. In the same way, create another sub-folder in Discovery called Outbox.

2. Create a number of folders and sub-folders that suit your needs.

The following screen illustrates a folder system.

The Prospective Clients folder has a number of sub-folders. These have been
divided by country.

Each of these in turn contains an Inbox and an Outbox.

This is only a suggestion of how to organise email. Use a method that best suits your own
needs.
Sort messages by name, by date 73

Move messages to a new folder for mail

Move a message by dragging

1. Highlight the message you wish to move.

2. Hold down the left hand mouse button and drag the message to the new folder.
3. Release the left mouse button when the target folder is displayed with a solid border.

Move a message using the context menu

1. Right click on the message you wish to move.

2. Select Move to Folder in the context menu.
3. Highlight the target folder in the list that is displayed.
4. Click OK.

Copy a message to a new folder

You can use a similar method to make a duplicate of a message in a folder.

1. Right click on the message you wish to move.

2. Select Copy to Folder in the context menu.
3. Highlight the target folder in the list that is displayed.
4. Click OK.

Sort messages by name, by date

The column headings are displayed at the top of a mail box.

Messages may be sorted on any of these headings.

Date This sorts the messages in date order. Each time you click the Date
heading, Evolution will reverse the order. The first time sorts the messages
starting with the most recent and the second with the oldest.
Subject This sorts the email messages in alphabetic order according to the subject
entered by the sender. If you click Subject a second time, it restores the
messages to the order they were previously in.
From Clicking From cycles through three possibilities. Sort by sender in
ascending or descending order or unsort the messages.

Delete a message
Highlight the message you wish to delete and press the Delete key or right click on the
message and select Delete in the context menu.

Restore a message from the mail bin/deleted items folder

74 Mail Management

Delete a message
When you delete a message, Evolution does not permanently delete it but moves it to a
special folder called Trash. Messages can be retrieved from Trash.

1. Click on Trash in the Folder bar. This will display the messages in Trash.
2. Right click on the message you wish to recover.
3. Select Move to Folder in the context menu.
4. Highlight the folder you wish to move the message back to and Click OK.

Empty the mail bin/deleted items folder

If you are sure that you no longer need any message in Trash, you can empty its contents.
This will permanently delete all the messages.

1. Actions->Empty Trash.
2. Click Yes if you are sure.

Expunge a message
Expunging a message deletes the message completely without keeping a copy in Trash.
When a message has been expunged it cannot be recovered.

1. Highlight the message to be expunged.

2. Actions->Expunge.
3. Click Yes to confirm.

Prepare to Print

Preview a message
You can view what a message will look like when printed before actually printing it.

1. Click on the message you wish to preview.

2. File->Print Preview.
Choose print output options such 75
as: entire message, selected

This will display the message as it will print.

3. If the message contains more than one page, you can move to the next or previous
page. Alternatively you can move to the last page or the first page.

4. You may also magnify or reduce the image.

5. Click Print or Close when done.

Choose print output options such as: entire message,

selected contents of a message, number of copies and print
1. Open the message you wish to print.
2. File->Print.
3. Click the Jobs tab.
4. Set the number of copies you wish to print.
5. If the message contains more than one page, check Collate if you wish the pages to be
collated.
6. On some versions you are also able to specify a range of pages to be printed.
76 Mail Management

7. Click the Printer tab.

8. Select the printer you wish to print to.

Create a pdf file

1. Select the Create pdf file option in Printer.

2. In this case you will be prompted for a file name in the Location window.

3. Click the Paper tab.

4. Set the paper size. The default is A4.

5. Set the orientation. The default is portrait.
6. Click Print when you have completed the settings.

Print using default settings

contents of a message, number of
copies and print

1. File->Print.
2. Click Print.
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